More than half of Torontonians support a city takeover of the embattled Bixi bike sharing program to complement the TTC, an automated phone survey from Forum Research suggests.

However, only a third of the 974 people polled favour subsidizing the program. A total of 51 per cent would like the program to succeed or fail on its own.

The survey, conducted on May 10, showed that seven in 10 respondents are aware of the Bixi bike service and about a tenth had used the program. Bixi bike users are most likely to be earning less than $20,000 a year, are under 35, and live in either Toronto or East York.

“They’ve heard of it, may have used it and they think it brings value to the city. They even want to see Bixi as part of the TTC. The only caveat is, Torontonians want to see the service pay for itself,” Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff said in a statement.

The survey is considered accurate plus or minus 3 per cent, 19 times out of 20. According to Forum, “where appropriate, the data has been statistically weighted to ensure that the sample reflects the actual population according to the latest Census data.”

TTC chair Karen Stintz has advocated for the city to take on Bixi Toronto — which city staff says is veering toward bankruptcy thanks to a high debt load — to supplement the transit system.

City staff is scheduled to report back to executive committee with recommendations in July.

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